Okay, I’m just about to put the unfortunate accident that is EA’s Burnout: Dominator behind me, which will free up the weekend for NIS America’s [i]Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm[/i], which just showed up on the porch.
I gotta say, this has been a series for which I’ve grown rather fond, as Gust and NIS’s particular sense of humor and characterization has turned out to to fall alongside my own taste’s quite nicely. Though having played through Ar Tonelico I’m not sure if I should be ashamed or afraid at this personal revelation of mine. Anyway, I guess the point of all of this is that this game is what is going to be occupying my weekend. What about yours?
Sega has announced a set of three Genesis titles currently on deck to be released for the Wii’s Virtual Console. While a date has not been confirmed for any of these games, they are expected to debut for the traditional 800 points ($8) each, as is the case with other Genesis releases.
Perhaps the most exciting of the three new games is Virtua Fighter 2. First released for the console in 1996, the game built upon the grappling excellence of the original with refined visuals and a couple new characters. Well, refined visuals, for the time, I suppose. [url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/genesis/virtua-fighter-2/screenshots]Looking back on the game[/url], it’s really pretty ugly, but I digress.
However, for some inexplicable reason, neither of these new characters will be featured in the Virtual Console version. That’s right, no Chun Di or Lion Rafale for you. Characters featured in the game include Lau Chan, Kage Maru, Wolf Hawkfield, Jeffry McWild, Akira Yuki, Jacky Bryant, Sarah Bryant and Pai Chan. Without the Genesis version in front of me I’m unable to recall. Were these characters omitted from that version as well?
The next game announced is the mascot heavy Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, which while being a largely forgettable romp from 1989, is still somewhat entertaining. However, it pales to the third member of this set, Wonder Boy in Monster World. While arguably inferior to the sublime Dragon’s Trap (or Dragon’s Curse), Westone’s Monster World ins nonetheless a terrific addition to the Virtual Console library, with its lush colorful graphics, lengthy quest, and charming platforming and RPG-lite atmosphere.
[img]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/news/2007/03/Wonder Boy in Monster World.jpg[/img]
The Playstation 3 has just recently been launched in Europe and Australia, and Microsoft isn’t just sitting back and watching. While its no secret that the launch events in both territories have been far less dramatic than the frenzied launch in Japan and North America last November, Microsoft isn’t taking any chances.
In Paris, France, Microsoft decided to crash the launch party surrounding the Playstation 3. Not that there was much of a party to speak of, [url=http://www.jeux-france.com/news19695_la-playstation-3-sort-en-europe.html]judging by these images[/url] of the PS3 launch party (the site is in French but images are located down the page). At any rate, Microsoft played their card and sent a boat with a friendly message reminding PS3 enthusiasts that [url=http://kotaku.com/gaming/only-in-france/xbox-crashes-french-ps3-launch-246475.php]Xbox 360 loves them a lot[/url]. Creepy, but flattering.
Meanwhile, in New Zealand where the Xbox 360 is celebrating its one-year anniversary, Microsoft used the PS3’s high price to try and turn gamers away from the PS3, whose launch also happens to share the Xbox 360’s NZ birthday. How is Microsoft doing it? With alcohol, of course. [url=http://www.nzgamer.com/news-all-1668]480 dollars worth of beer[/url] to be exact, which happens to be the price difference between the Xbox 360 ($719.95) and the PS3 (1199.95). The ad-campaign? “What would you buy with $480?”
In some cases, however, Microsoft hasn’t the need to step in. That’s because in many places, launch events are turning out far less gigantic than they did in the U.S., including mild launches in [url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/games/playtime-for-midnights-children/2007/03/23/1174153291466.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1]Australia[/url], France, and the [url=http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,2039112,00.html]the United Kingdom[/url]. With many retailers also heavily stocked in the United States, this shouldn’t make for a pleasant read back at Sony HQ in Tokyo.
Could this mean trouble for Sony? That, my friends, would be an understatement.
Aksys, which owes much of its roots to Atlus, has confirmed plans to bring the strategy RPG [i]Hoshigami Remix[/i] to the Nintendo DS this summer. The game represents the company’s first Nintendo DS offering, and is a remake of Atlus’ terribly tedious PSone original. We’ll see if it’s any better the second time around, or if adding a touch screen makes the game’s laborious menu system any more palatable.
By now I’m sure that Activision’s Marvel: Ultimate Alliance has been left to linger on your shelf, gathering dust, never to be played again, right? Well, for those of you owning the Xbox 360 version of the action RPG, it will be soon time to break out the game once more.
Activision has announced Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Heroes and Villains, a downloadable expansion to the game for release over the Xbox Live Marketplace in April, which will add eight new playable characters: The Incredible Hulk, Magneto, Hawkeye, Sabretooth, Doctor Doom, Cyclops, Nightcrawler and Venom, each complete with new signature powers, skins, dialog, conversations and achievement points.
The downloadable content will be released in three packs. The ‘Hero Pack’ and ‘Villain Pack’ will each be 500 Microsoft points ($6.25) and the ‘Combined Hero and Villain Pack’ will be 800 Microsoft points ($10). Heroes and villains gamer pic packs will also be available for 80 Microsoft points each ($1). For now the Xbox 360 is the only platform announced as getting the new content, leaving those who picked up the game for other platforms no doubt crying foul.
